STAR
(Novelette)
The start-up company 'STAR' had only been in production for some eighteen months. Its
success had been phenomenal. It focused on pet owners. The first television advert
went out late one evening. It asked animal owners for video footage of their pets
performing tricks. Their advert stated no tapes could be returned. However, every
clip proudly offered would have the pet owners name attached to the clip before
broadcasting, giving every owner their fifteen minutes of fame.
This was a clever ploy on the part of the company since the first advert they had
received sacks full of tapes daily. These tapes would help to maintain production for
some time to come. It had been the brain wave of Jen and Mickey who met each other
whilst at university. On leaving university they set up an advertising company
together. It fell to Jen this particular day to watch tapes staring kittens for their
new project.
An hour and a half had passed, and Jen still could not find any suitable tapes. She
took a mouthful of her coffee and reached for the next tape. A red symbol embossed on
the back of the tape caught her eye as she was about to put the tape into its slot.
The tape started to run, and then a screeching came from inside the machine followed
by an ominous silence.
"Damn it," said Jen.
She tried to eject the tape but it was firmly stuck in the machine.
"Oh please," Jen said frustrated.
To her astonishment the videotape started to play. Jen could not believe what
she was seeing. There was the cutest kitten you could imagine playing with a red ball
of wool. There was nothing surprising in this; many kittens before it would have been
doing much the selfsame thing. The remarkable thing was this kitten had a large pair
The kitten was weaving what appeared to be a cat cradle with the wool. The cat
stopped in mid-flight sensing an audience. It flew towards the screen hovering on the
spot. It looked straight into Jen's eyes just before the display blanked. Jen was
still staring at the screen when Mickey entered the room.
"Well, you are not going to get much done watching a blank screen," he said laughing.
"What, no I know. The tapes jammed," she said pulling herself together.
"Let me have a look," he said.
On pushing the button, the tape slowly ejected.
"Typical," Jen said. Will you stay and look at this tape with me? It's different to
the usual ones." Jen had an uncomfortable feeling about it.
"I'm sorry I can't honey." Mickey said giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I
have a meeting scheduled, and I'm already late. See you later," he said walking out
of the room.
Jen gingerly pushed the videotape back into the system, but it would not run.
In disgust she threw it into the bin marked 'For Destruction,' and went to answer the
It was 7pm, and Jen was making her way home by train. It would be another forty-five
minutes before she reached her destination. She picked up for her briefcase and
opened it. As she reached into the case, her hand was scratched by something inside
it. She withdrew her hand to find a considerable scratch-mark across the back of her
hand, and it was bleeding. She licked at it with her tongue and peered into the case.
To her astonishment the videotape with the red symbol was inside. She quickly slammed
the briefcase shut. Jen closed her eyes. Her day had been all too upsetting.
"You're getting blood on your clothes," someone said behind her.
"Oh no. Thanks for the warning."
Turning around, she found she was alone in the train carriage. Feeling somewhat
unnerved, she took her mobile out of her handbag and phoned Mickey. He was
unavailable, so she left him a message asking him to call her as soon as possible,
When Jen finally got home she threw her coat and briefcase onto a chair. Peeling off
her clothes she walked through to the bathroom and showered. She felt refreshed after
her shower. Her hand by now was sore and swollen, so she wrapped a bandage around it.
After getting dressed Jen made a sandwich and curled up in a chair. She nibbled at
the sandwich but had little appetite. Her head was still reeling over the day's
events.
The doorbell rang. On opening the door Jen ran straight into Mickey's arms sobbing.
"Hey, what's up? You sounded so upset on the phone I decided to come straight over."
"Oh Mickey, I'm so glad to see you. I've had such a dreadful day," Jen said between
sobs.
He gently coaxed her through the telling of her story. It was clear to Jen that
Mickey did not know what to make of it all, and she couldn't blame him for that.
"Come on let's see this tape," he said going over to fetch her briefcase from the
chair.
"Be careful my hand is red and swollen from a scratch I received from something in my
briefcase."
Gently undoing the bandage Jen held out her hand for him to examine it.
Unbelievably, her hand had returned to normal. This was more than Jen could take, and
she became hysterical. Mikey finally managed to calm her down. He found some sleeping
tablets in the medicine cabinet and gave her a couple. By the time he left for home
Jen was woken by cats fighting underneath her window. She got up and looked out, it
was pitch-black she could not see a thing. She looked at her watch it was three in
the morning. Sighing she slowly padded her way across the room to the kitchen for a
tumbler of water. On her way back from the kitchen, she dropped the tumbler of water
on the living room floor in shock.
Her briefcase was lying open on the chair and coming out of the shadows Jen could
make out the silhouette of a cat stealthily walking towards her. As it moved closer
Jen could see the cat was the same one from earlier. She froze as the kitten brushed
itself against her legs purring deeply it fluttered its wings.
"Please pick me up Jen," it said.
"Go away, and leave me be," she said running into her bedroom and slamming the door
shut.
"I will not hurt you. Please believe me Jen," said the cat that had materialized
beside her in the room .
"How can you talk and fly? It must be the sleeping tablets, I'm hallucinating," Jen
said rubbing her eyes.
The cat flew up and hovered in front of her face.
"I will never harm you Jen. You are going to need me. I'm here to help you. Please,
hold me Jen I can only fly in short bursts, and I am getting very tired."
The kitten began to yawn, and Jen involuntarily yawned along with it.
"I must be going mad, but for some reason I believe you." Reaching out she picked up
the kitten and cradled it in her arms.
The kitten snuggled down purring loudly.
"What are you called?" Jen said stroking the cat.
"I'm Star," it said washing its paws.
"Oh, fancy that," she said as the cat began to lick her hand.
"I must rest," said Star. "I'm drained of energy, and you are going to need me to be
strong. Goodnight Jen we will talk some more tomorrow."
Star then jumped out of her arms and onto the chair. He was soon asleep. Jen
went back to bed. In no time at all she was fast asleep. At one-point on opening her
Jen awoke the next morning feeling remarkably refreshed. She sang to herself as she
prepared for work. The only blight on this lovely day was Star was nowhere to be
seen. She left a saucer of milk for him and went off to work.
Mikey could not believe the transformation in Jen. However, he decided it prudent not
to ask too many questions about the night before events for which Jen was very
grateful.
After work, Jen called into a supermarket and picked up some cans of the finest cat
food. She was looking forwards to seeing Star again. He seemed to have a calming
effect on her. As she opened the front door she heard a noise coming from the
bedroom.
"Star, is that you?" She called.
"Who, or what, is Star?" Jarrard said walking towards her. Jen was both surprised and
annoyed at seeing him.
"What are you doing here, and how the hell did you get in?" she asked angrily.
"Well, that's a fine way to greet your husband. I do still have a key you know,"
Jarrard said pecking her on the cheek.
"Not for long. The divorce papers are due to be signed any day now," she said rubbing
at her cheek as if to remove his peck.
"It's why I'm here honey. It is essential you change your mind about this divorce,
and I'm here to convince you to do just that," he said threateningly. "You know my
situation. My solicitor has explained it in his letters to you. You must change your
mind, or I will be forced to take certain measures," Jarrard said grabbing at her
blouse lapels.
"You don't frighten me any longer Jarrard. The days are long gone when you could
bully me," she said brushing his hands away. Nevertheless, as she walked across the
room her legs felt like jelly.
"Why after all these years do you want a divorce? Have you met someone else?" He
asked.
"No, it's just time for me to move on. Start a new life, and that means breaking all
ties with you," said Jen with bravado.
Jen was relieved to feel Star brushing against her legs. She automatically bent
down and picked him up.
"Is that yours? I thought you didn't like cats," said Jarrard.
"This one is different. He is very special," Jen said stroking Star.
Jen felt Star stiffen in her arms as Jarrard stepped towards her. She put him
down on the floor.
"Well, are you going to change your mind, or am I going to have to change it for
you?" Jarrard said menacingly.
Jen really was scared now. She had experienced Jarrard's temper at first hand,
and she did care for the look in his eyes. She moved backwards to escape him but was
blocked by the window frame. Jarrard lunged for her. Jen sidestepped him at that same
moment as Star flew at him. A look of shock and dismay came over Jarrard's face and
he lost his balance. The pair of them went crashing out through the window. Jen
looked down to see Jarrard impaled on the railings below. She watched as Star looked
Jen did not see Star for some time. Then one night after work she was sitting and
watching television when the screen went blank, and Star appeared on the screen.
"Star, thank you so much for what you did. I miss you so much. Are you ok?" She
blurted out, relieved to be able to thank him at last.
Star nodded yes, then licked at the screen.
"Will I ever see you again?" she asked.
He shook his head no, and pressed his paw up against the screen. Jen went
across to the screen and placed her palm on the glass opposite his paw. She blew him
a kiss as he slowly disappeared from view...
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